


the innocence of youth (and brave ones who were lost)

by ProwlingThunder



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Brothers, Child's Perspective, Civilian Perspective, Gen, M/M, Siblings, The Innocent In War, The Scouting Legion - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 06:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18138551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProwlingThunder/pseuds/ProwlingThunder
Summary: “I don'tneedprotection; you seem to be forgetting who had better scores!”“So what? I still kicked your ass in hand-to-hand.”“Titans are people-shaped, not people-sized!”





	the innocence of youth (and brave ones who were lost)

**Author's Note:**

> Confetti is falling like snow.  
> Supporters are waving their signs.  
> It’s a hero’s homecoming today.  
> Underneath the smiles  
> A melancholy weighs upon them all the while.  
> They can’t forget the cost –  
> The innocence of youth and brave ones who were lost…  
> \-- _Hero's Homecoming,_ Brave Saint Saturn

John meets Adolpha the day his brother Adam is heading outside the Walls for the first time.

He crowds near the gate along with many others, having taken the ferry for the specific purpose of coming to see the Survey Corp off. He doesn't end up  _ lost _ , per say, but he ends up a lot further from the wall than he had planned for and thinks, perhaps, Adam had been forward in the line. He ends up staying to watch, just in case he's wrong.

Another kid next to him, a girl, calls someone's name loudly and waves at the gathering soldiers. John doesn't spare her a glance; he's looking for Adam.

It surprises him when Adam comes to  _ them _ . He's walking with another soldier; an animated guy with rusty brown hair, who smiles winningly and swoops to pick up the  _ girl _ with a laugh.

“There's my princess! Come to see me off, did you? I bet Mom and Dad don't know you're out here.”

Adam reaches out and ruffles John's hair. John lurches forward to hug Adam instead of paying attention to strangers. Adam forces him to loosen his grip and then he's down on one knee, hugging him back. John ends up squeezing him all the tighter. “Adam... how long will you be gone?”

“Until we come back. It wont be that long; you'll hardly even notice.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Hey, Adam!”

Adam and John both turn to look; it's the rust-brown haired guy. John blinks at him. Adam says, “Hmmm? Faolan? Who's the fire-spitter?”

The strange soldier John doesn't know has the girl in his arms, and she's basically settled against his hip despite that she's got to be John's age.

“This? This is my little sister. Say hi, Adolpha.”

Adolpha tucks her face shyly against the green of her brother's cloak, but she raises a hand to give a little wave, fingers spread wide. “Pleased to meet you.”

Adam smiles at them both. “The pleasure's all mine, Adolpha. My name is Adam; this is my brother John.” It's leave to introduce himself, but all John can do is frown at them. Adam ruffles his hair again and then stands, forcing John to let him go.

He doesn't want to. It feels like he's letting him  _ go _ , and John wants him to stay. He's always wanted him to stay.

He's wanted nothing more in three years than for Adam to come  _ home _ .

Adam isn't coming home now. In fact, he's turning at the sound of his name, and then he's looking at the stranger he walked over with. John guesses they're teamed up together. “Faolan...”

“Yeah, we have to go.” Faolan shifts Adolpha off his hip and she slips down him in a controlled slide to stand on her own two feet. Her fingers are still tangled in his cloak. “I'll be home soon enough, okay? Then you and I, we'll crash one of the fox-hunting parties or go stay with Uncle Conor for a while, what do you say?”

The girl brightens for reasons John can't fathom, except that she looks way too happy her brother is leaving. “Yes!”

Faolan then looks at him, and smiles again. “I'll keep Adam safe, okay kid? You can count on me for that.” John blinks and then nods, slowly, while Adam huffs and punches Faolan in the arm. “Ow! What was that for?”

“I don't  _ need _ protection; you seem to be forgetting who had better scores!”

“So what? I still kicked your ass in hand-to-hand.”

“Titans are people-shaped, not people-sized!”

John doesn't know what any of it means, but it's not actually that reassuring.

Adam says goodbye to him again before he and Faolan are heading back to the other soldiers. When the bell tolls, the girl,  _ Adolpha _ , is waving again.

“Come back soon! I'll be waiting!”

John takes the ferry back into Rose and makes his way home, and Adam's right; he doesn't really notice that Adam's not there. Adam hasn't been there for years.

\---

Then one day Adam comes home. He brings a vaguely-familiar soldier with him, and they both stay for dinner. They stay the night, too, but the next morning the other soldier is gone, and Adam offers to take John and do the shopping for their parents, which is readily agreed to.

The other soldier--  _ Faolan _ \-- comes back in the afternoon, and he's gone again in the mornings like clockwork, except on Saturday, when he's gone the whole day, and Sunday, when he doesn't leave.

Somewhere during the visit Mother bans Adam from cooking, and John has no idea why. Faolan just laughs and says something John doesn't catch, and every once in a while after that he catches Faolan helping Mother make dinner. For some reason, the stranger his brother brought home is almost always there for dinner.

\---

John has basically forgotten all about Adolpha by the next time the Scouting Legion is due to depart, and he wants to catch the ferry together with Adam and Faolan but they had already left to get ready, so he ends up riding alone. He only remembers her when she comes running up to them near the gates, waving madly, and launches herself at Faolan.

John is not upset about that. No, really.

A woman who looks absolutely nothing like Adolpha or Faolan walks up after her, giggling. She looks like she might be a servant for a noble or something.

Faolan blinks at her. “H-hey Poppy. What are you doing here?”

“Making sure Adolpha gets to see you off. Naturally.”

“Wouldn't Mom and Dad be angry with you?”

“Maybe, but Adolpha's helping me on the Lord's errand, so there's nothing they can really say.”

Nobody speaks for a long time except Adolpha, who's babbling, or if they do, John manages to miss it by not being old enough to have gained the skill Understanding Adults When They Say Nothing, because all they're doing is watching each other. But then Adam's clearing his throat and holding out a hand to introduce himself, and John, and Faolan's petting the intruder's hair.

John's okay with it. Really.

\---

No he's not.

\---

The next time they come home, Faolan has a broken arm and is temporarily off active duty for recovery. Adam is his partner, and the rest of their unit is gone, so Adam is going to work the Walls until they get a new unit assigned to them and Faolan is recovered, apparently.

John understands basically none of the way they actually  _ say  _ it to his parents, but that's not the point.

The point is, they're going to be in the Walls for a while, and he doesn't have to share them.

It's the best birthday present John can think of.

He's turning ten.


End file.
